US not reporting all airstrikes in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan

Thousands of airstrikes carried out by the US military across the Middle East have not been disclosed, a new investigation has revealed, raising questions about the transparency of the Pentagon’s reported progress against the Daesh (ISIL) terror as well as costs and casualty counts.

In 2016 alone, 456 of US Air Force’s 1,071 airstrikes in Afghanistan were not listed in an online database maintained by the force’s Central Command (AFCENT), the Military Times reported Sunday.

There is an even bigger discrepancy in Iraq and Syria, where a US-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes on reported Daesh positions since 2014.

According to the Air Force, the coalition jets had conducted 23,740 airstrikes until the end of 2016. The US Defense Department, however, puts the number at 17,861 until the end of January 2017.

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